Once Upon A Time: Reimagined
by bobbiejod
Summary: Once Upon A Time with a twist. Read the first part for more information. Snowing, Swanfire, Truest Believer.
1. Background Information

**AN:** This is my first attempt at writing for this show. I have written stories in the past for Harry Potter, The OC, Friends and Criminal Minds. With what is going on with the show and several of the actors and actresses recently, I decided that I would like to post this story that I have been working on. I am a huge Captain Swan fan, but this is the first story I attempted to write while binge-watching the second season on Netflix.

To the followers of my other stories, I promise that I have not abandoned any of them. I just felt the need to post this at this time.

* * *

First A Little Background...

This is my first attempt at writing Once Upon A Time fanfiction. This will be an Alternate universe. Neal/Baelfire still sold out Emma, but Emma changed her mind and kept Henry. Emma searched for Neal after she was released from prison and gained custody of Henry. Emma and Neal are now together. The curse still exists, but with a twist. Only Snow and Charming know who they really are, but no one else does. Regina doesn't know that her curse hasn't affected The Charmings. If Snowing tries to leave town to find their daughter they will lose their memories. No one has aged since Regina sent them all to Storybrooke. Charming and Snow have been trying to find their daughter for the past twenty-eight years. Emma and Neal know about their unusual past, but want to stay as far away from their unwanted past as they possibly can.

The Story begins with Henry at ten like at the start of the show and Emma trying to make a difficult decision in regards to her relationship with Neal.

Onto the story if you wish...


	2. Chapter 1

**AN:** I decided to post the first chapter tonight as well. I hope you like this. All reviews are welcome! PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** I own no one.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Emma Swan moved around the room of the bed n' breakfast as she finished packing up the rest of their things. She glanced over to her son's side of the room as the ten-year-old continued to play with his electronics.

"Henry could you please finish packing up your things?" she sat on the edge of the bigger bed to rest for a minute. "We need to get on the road soon."

"But mom," he whined.

"Listen to your mother," Neal came out of the bathroom after he packed up all of their essentials. "We need to get on the road soon if we want to make it home in time for you to get to school on Monday."

"Well I don't," Henry mumbled.

"Henry, please."

Henry sighed dramatically as he finally got up off the bed and started shoving his things into his suitcase.

"It's too early for him to be morphing into a teenager already," Emma commented as Neal closed his suitcase and went to her, as she was running her hands over her swollen belly.

"How you doing today?" he asked her as he sat beside her, placing a hand over hers on her belly.

"Be prepared to stop every five minutes for my bathroom breaks," she sighed.

"Sooo….Have you thought anymore about-"

"Neal," she sighed. "Please-"

"I know you're scared," he interrupted her. "I know that we both have trust issues a mile long, but we've gotten to a good place now. We have been living together for over a year now, we have Henry, and we have this little one on the way."

Emma smiled as Neal moved his hand over her belly and she felt a swift kick like she always did whenever he talked to her belly.

"We're already a family." Neal stated. "I just-I would like to make it official."

"I just-I need some more time," she looked at him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he pulled her closer as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"You're not mad?" she whispered.

"Not at all," he softly kissed her cheek. "We both know that we each have issues that will be with us for a long time. Our parents-"

"Neal-"

"There is a chance that they'll find us," he told her as he glanced at Henry, who was finishing up his packing. "We have to be prepared for when they do."

"We will be," she assured him as she slowly stood up with a little help from him.

Neal and Emma finished packing everything up as they tried to move Henry along. Neal went out to start loading up the car as Emma double-checked that they had gotten everything. She looked over at Henry as his bag sat beside him on the other bed. He had abandoned his tablet and was replaced with a thick book that was positioned on his lap as he silently looked through it.

"What you got there kid?" she asked him as she closed up her suitcase.

"I found this in the bottom of the dresser," he looked up at her. "It wasn't there before. It's like it just appeared."

"Things don't just appear out of thin air," Emma looked at Neal as he came back into them.

"This did," Henry told them.

"What kind of book is that?" Neal asked his son as he sat beside him.

"It looks like a fairy tale book, only different."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like background stories of all the fairy tales you've read to me," Henry told them. "And it's like continuations of the stories."

"Neat," Emma smiled.

"Can I have this?" Henry looked at his parents. "Maybe the people who were in this room last didn't want it and left it here on purpose."

"Well with that logic…" Emma started.

"Sure kid," Neal smiled at his son. "You can have it."

"Awesome, thanks!" Henry started to help them with all their bags.

"At least it'll keep him off the electronics," Emma stated as Neal helped her stand.

"They make him happy," Neal defended himself.

"They distract him from his schoolwork,"

"You were the one who got him the game system," he told her as they all walked out of the bed n' breakfast with the rest of their things.

"It was Christmas," she said as they all climbed into the car.

"OK, enough," Neal started up the car. "We need to get going."

"I will be sleeping most of the way," Emma closed her eyes.

"Good, you need your rest." Neal pulled away from the bed n' breakfast as Emma lay her head against the back of the seat; she was out before he even turned off the road.

* * *

"Emma," she barely heard the soft whisper near her ear.

"Mom," she felt gentle shaking.

"Come on Sleepyhead," Neal said a little louder.

"What-" she grumbled as she blinked her eyes open.

She gave a small smile as she saw that they were parked in the lot of a small late-night bakery. She slowly sat up as she saw Neal and Henry with smiles on their faces as they stood on her side of the open car door. Neal knelt down before her as he took the single cupcake out of the box and lit the lone candle.

"Make a wish, Birthday Girl." Neal held the cupcake before her.

"You know I don't like my birthday," she stated.

"Which is why I always have to plan these trips before your birthday," Neal told her. "But we both decided that we had to acknowledge your birthday in some way. Now please make a wish."

"I have my boys with me," she smiled. "I couldn't ask for anything more."

Emma slowly blew out the candle and smiled at her family in front of her. She kissed Neal on the cheek as she split the cupcake in half to share with her son. Henry gladly accepted it as Emma licked the frosting off her half.

"Thank you," she smiled at her boys.

"All right," Neal stood up again and he and Henry got back into the car. "We should make it to New York by morning. Then it shouldn't be much longer until we reach home."

"So how old are you now Mom?" Henry asked as Neal pulled back onto the road again to continue their journey.

"Twenty-eight," she looked back at him. "If I hear you say the word old-"

"You're still young mom," Henry smiled at her.

"Good answer," Emma smiled at her son.

"I've taught my boy well," Neal told her.

"It is strange though," Henry mumbled.

"What's strange?"

"This book I found," Henry opened it up again.

"The fairytale book?" Emma looked back at him.

"Yeah," he turned some pages. "There's an Emma in it."

"Really?"

"Is that Emma as fierce as your mom?" Neal asked as he made it back onto the highway. "Is she a fighter like your mom?"

"I'm not sure. The book ends when she's born and she's being put into a magical wardrobe."

"Wardrobe?" Emma looked at Neal.

"They call her The Saviour. She's supposed to break a curse that the Evil Queen put on all of the fairytale characters when she's twenty-eight."

"Calm," Neal mumbled so that only Emma could hear him.

"This Emma is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming." Henry revealed.

"Really," Neal started getting an uneasy feeling.

"And the Evil Queen put a curse on all the land so to save their daughter Snow White and Prince Charming sent her through the magical wardrobe to give her her best chance."

"That sounds interesting," Emma said softly.

"They sent her into this world, our world" Henry continued. "Wouldn't that be cool? All the fairytale characters living among us and we would never know?"

"Totally," Neal stated as he and Emma shared a look. "Relax, it's nothing."

"He has a storybook that appeared out of nowhere that tells the story of us," Emma hissed softly.

"It's nothing. We'll be back in New York by morning and back to our normal lives."

* * *

"What the-this can't be," Emma resurfaced as she heard Neal's panicked voice.

"What's going on?" she slowly opened her eyes.

"It's nothing," he told her as she sat up.

"What time is it?" Emma glanced back to see Henry fast asleep.

"Going on six am," Neal told her.

"Then why doesn't this look like New York?" she looked out the window.

"Don't panic,"

"Why?"

"Not even five minutes ago I saw a sign for New York. Now I just saw a sign that says we're in Maine."

"How'd we get in Maine? We never pass through Maine."

"Either we got turned around somehow or-"

"Or someone really wants us here," Emma spotted the miles of woods surrounding them.

"It'll be ok," Neal assured her. "I'll just turn back around-what?"

"What is it?" Emma looked over at him.

"I can't turn around," Neal said as he struggled with the steering wheel.

"Oh my god," Emma gasped. "We're in-"

"Storybrooke," Neal stated as he started struggling with the brake pedal.

"What's going on?" Henry's soft voice came from the backseat as Emma saw him slowly waking up. "Are we home? Wh-Where are we?"

"We got turned around somehow," Emma told him. "We're trying to find an exit so we can turn around."

"I don't see one," Neal told her. "Something is very wrong here."

"Hang on Henry," Emma reached back to try to stop a possible impact with the back of her seat.

"Oh no," Neal tried frantically to stop the car as they passed through a seemingly invisible barrier and they all felt the impact.

"Henry!" Emma screamed frantically.

"Mom!" Henry slammed against his seatbelt.

"Emma!" Neal watched in horror as her forehead hit the windshield.

* * *

Sheriff David Nolan walked into his loft apartment that he shared with his wife Mary Margaret in the early morning hours. He had volunteered for the late shift so that he wouldn't think about the fact that he was missing yet another one of his daughter's birthdays. Twenty-eight years; twenty-eight birthdays they had both missed. Twenty-eight years of missed milestones for the both of them.

Charming knew that it was the best decision he had made when he had put his daughter through the wardrobe just minutes after Snow had given birth. When The Evil Queen and her guards had stormed the castle he was able to get her in the wardrobe just in time. After the battle had ended and Regina cast her curse on everyone in the Enchanted Forest-Snow and Charming realized that they weren't affected by it.

Everyone from their world were transported to the nonexistent-to the outside world-town of Storybrooke, Maine. Snow and Charming were the only ones that still had their memories from before. Everyone else believed they had different identities, thanks to Regina-the mayor of their new residence. They kept it a secret from everyone else when they realized that they would never be able to convince everyone of who they really were. To the other residents of Storybrooke, they were David and Mary Margaret Nolan. Behind closed doors though, when it was just the two of them, they were Snow and Charming.

David hung his jacket up and silently walked through the loft apartment and pulled the curtain back separating their bedroom from the rest of the apartment. He carefully climbed onto the bed behind Mary Margaret as he saw a picture clutched in her hand. He smiled softly when he saw that it was the picture that Happy was able to snap of their family of three just after Emma was born; right before the battle at the castle had begun. The picture had somehow made it's way with them into this new world. They managed to keep it hidden, only getting it out when it was just the two of them.

"We missed another one," Snow whispered as Charming took the picture from her.

"I know," he kissed her temple as she turned over to face him. "I thought about her all night long."

"Twenty-eight years," Snow teared up. "We missed twenty-eight years of birthdays, milestones, her first steps, first words, first friends, first days of school, first dates, first dances…."

"I wanted it all too," he held her. "I wanted to be there to teach her everything a dad should, to take her for her first day of school, teach her to dance for her first big school dance, threaten her dates that they would never be good enough because I would always be the number one guy in her life…"

"She would've been such a daddy's girl," Snow smiled up at him.

"But you would've been so close with her too," he assured her. "Especially when she hit those teenage years and started liking boys. I imagine we would've had full-on screaming fights because I would've definitely gone into overprotective dad mode when they started coming around."

"And when one of those boys broke her heart for the first time she would see that you had good reason to act the way you did,"

"If only," David sighed deeply.

"If only," Snow murmured in agreement.

The silence was broken and they were brought out of their daydream when they heard David's phone go off. He sighed as he reached into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone.

"Sheriff Nolan," he answered. "Graham, what's going on? I just got home."

Snow watched as David talked to the deputy that he had left in charge in his absence at the station. He sat right up on the bed again as he digested what Graham was telling him.

"I'm on my way," David responded before he hung up his phone abruptly.

"What is it?" Mary Margaret looked at him in concern.

"There's been an accident," he started to climb out of bed again.

"Who is it?"

"Graham didn't recognize the car." David looked at her. "It's at the town line."

"Wait," Mary Margaret stopped him. "Are you saying that someone got past the barrier? Someone not from here?"

"I'm telling you what Graham told me," David told her. "Would you like to come along? Graham said that there are multiple victims."

"Anything to take my mind off of today," Snow followed him out the door, grabbing their coats along the way.

David and Mary Margaret pulled up to the scene of the accident as they saw all the excitement. A single car was turned over onto it's side as Graham and the EMTs worked to help the victims inside.

"What do we have?" David rushed up to them.

"It's a family of three," Graham told them. "Mother, father, and a child in the backseat. The child is conscious but he keeps yelling for his parents so we haven't been able to get any information out of him."

"Let me try," David went to the back door and tried to jimmy it open.

"Mom! Dad!" the boy continued to yell.

"Hey kid," David smiled at him through the crack in the window. "I'm Sheriff Nolan, but you can call me David. Can you tell me your name?"

"H-Henry,"

"How old are you Henry?" David took the crowbar from Graham to try to get the door open.

"Ten," Henry struggled with his seatbelt. "I need my mom and dad."

"We're going to get you all out," David assured him. "But right now, my concern is you. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"My hand hurts a little," the boy admitted.

"Can you try to make a fist for me?"

While David was getting Henry to calm down, Mary Margaret went to the front of the car to see how bad of shape the other two victims were in. She got to the door as the driver was coming to.

"Hey," she smiled at him. "Good, you're awake."

"What-" the man looked disoriented.

"You're going to be ok. Can you tell me your name?"

"N-Neal," he looked around. "Where-"

"Your son is fine," Mary Margaret assured him. "We almost have him out."

"My girl," Neal looked next to him and saw the gash on her forehead as the blood trickled down. "You have to get her out right now."

"We're working on getting all of you out."

"You need to get her out now! She's pregnant."

"David!" Mary Margaret yelled over to him as he was helping one of the EMTs cut Henry out of the seatbelt.

"What's the matter?" he called back.

"The female victim-she's pregnant."

David got Henry seated in the back of the ambulance with one of the EMTs checking him over. He rushed back over to the car with the other EMT following him. The driver was still struggling as he tried to reach over to the passenger side.

"I'm Sheriff Nolan," David got his attention. "What's your name?"

"Neal," he continued to struggle. "You have to get her out."

"And we will, but you need to calm down. The more time we have to spend trying to calm you down, the less time we have to help your wife."

"Not wife,"

"Sorry, girlfriend."

"Kind of fiance, I hope. It's complicated."

"We will get your girl out. Do you know how many weeks along she is?"

"She's thirty weeks, seven and a half months."

"Mary Margaret," David looked over at her as she tried to help the EMT. "She's thirty weeks along."

Mary Margaret couldn't say anything; she was trying to stay out of the way of the EMT as he checked the female victim over. There was no response from her yet. Mary Margaret went to grab her hand in comfort when it happened. As soon as their skin touched, Mary Margaret got flashes of memories. The one that stood out above the others was an image of David putting their daughter in the wardrobe.

"Emma," Mary Margaret gasped as the victim's eyes fluttered open and looked right into her eyes.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think for my first attempt at Once Upon A Time fanfiction. I'm sorry if I got anything wrong. Like I said I am new to writing for this TV show. Tell me what you think! PLZ R&R!


	3. Chapter 2

**AN:** I would like to thank Boris Yeltsin, Ghostwriter and HannahNoel1217 for leaving reviews for the last chapter. I would also like to thank everyone else who liked, favorited and subscribed to this story. I'm so glad that you liked it. Here's the next installment. I hope you like it. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Emma slowly became aware of her surroundings as she started to hear voices from what seemed like far away. She could faintly hear Neal and Henry calling out to her and tried desperately to respond to them. She heard someone else call her name; a voice she didn't recognize. She forced her eyes open and stared back into a pair of eyes that she didn't recognize.

"What….h-happened?" she managed to get out.

"Hey," the woman smiled kindly at her. "My name is Mary Margaret. Can you tell me your name?"

"Emma," she said softly.

"Emma, you were in an accident-"

"Henry," she tried to move around and look in the back seat. "Neal-"

"Your son has a couple bumps and bruises and may have a possible sprained wrist, but he's going to be fine."

"I'm Sheriff Nolan," David came over to assist his wife and the EMT. "Your son is in the back of the ambulance getting checked out-"

"Neal," Emma said softly.

"We just got your boyfriend out and he is sitting in the ambulance with your son," he assured her. "Now let's worry about you. Your boyfriend said that you're thirty weeks pregnant. Is that right?"

"Yes," her eyes started to close.

"Stay with me, Ma'am." David moved aside so the EMT could take a look at her.

"We need to make sure that your baby is all right," the EMT started examining her as David started to unjam the door. "Are you having any pains? Contractions?"

"No,"

"How about fetal movement? Can you feel the baby move?"

"No," she started to tear up as she tried to place her hand on her swollen belly.

"It's ok," the EMT assured her. "It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. But I'm going to put this fetal monitor on you just in case."

Mary Margaret helped David to finally get the door unstuck and a gurney was rolled over to Emma's door. The EMT helped Emma into a sitting position as an oxygen mask was placed over her nose and mouth. David and Mary Margaret helped move her from the car to the gurney as the fetal monitor was wrapped around her belly.

"Mom!" Henry smiled as he saw her being wheeled towards them.

"Emma," Neal raced over to her as the EMT was getting ready to load her into the back of the ambulance. "Is she ok?"

"So far, so good." the EMT told him. "But we need to get her to the hospital so the doctors can make an accurate assessment."

"Can we all ride together in the back? I don't think our boy wants to be away from his mom."

"No way," Henry stated.

"There's plenty of room," the other EMT told them. "Just as long as you don't get in the way of us doing our jobs, you can all ride in the back."

David and Mary Margaret watched as the stretcher was loaded into the back of the ambulance and Neal helped his son climb up before climbing in as well. The doors closed and the ambulance sped away leaving David and Mary Margaret to watch them.

"We should get to the hospital-" David stopped when he saw that Mary Margaret seemed to be in a trance. "Mary? What's wrong?"

"That was….Emma." she looked at him. "That was our daughter."

"Snow-"

"It was," she insisted. "I know it."

"What makes you so certain?"

"It was before she regained consciousness. I went to take her hand-to give her some kind of comfort-and when our skin touched-I saw all these images-it was her life and-I saw you in one of them."

"Me?"

"It was of you taking our daughter and putting her in the wardrobe. Why would I see that when I touched her hand unless-"

"She's our daughter," David breathed. "So that would mean..."

"We found her," Snow smiled. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to concentrate when all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and never let go."

"We found our daughter," David stated again as another realization hit him. "And we also have a grandson and a possible son-in-law. We really need to get down to the hospital."

Mary Margaret followed him back to the cruiser and they sped away from the accident site.

* * *

The ambulance reached the hospital and the doors flew open as the EMTs pulled the gurney containing Emma out. Neal lifted Henry out and followed behind the gurney as the doctor and nurses rushed up to Emma and started to push her down the halls towards the examination room. Henry clutched his dad's hand as they tried to keep up with the stretcher that carried his mom.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't have children back here." a nurse stopped Neal from going any further.

"I need to be with my girlfriend," Neal stated harshly. "And I'm not leaving my son by himself in a waiting room when he knows no one. That's a kidnapping waiting to happen."

"Excuse me, but are you accusing someone in my town of kidnapping?" Neal turned and saw the dark-haired lady with a stern look.

"I'm saying that I know nothing about this town or the people in it," Neal spat in her direction. "What kind of town is this? All we did was pass over the town line. There was nothing else around so it was obviously shoddy workmanship on the part of whoever fixed the road."

"Now see here-"

"Everyone needs to calm down!" David ran in with Mary Margaret, deputy Graham right behind them.

"I need to get to my girlfriend," Neal kept a firm hold on Henry's hand as he hid behind him. "You can try to stop me if you want-you can even try to arrest me-but I am not leaving my son alone with people that he doesn't know."

"I totally understand," David came forward. "If you want I can stay with your son while you go back with your girl. Some of the things that go on back there might scare him if he sees his mom going through them."

"Plus your son needs to get his wrist looked at. He may have injured it in the accident," Mary added.

"You're right, but-"

"We promise that he's safe with us," Mary Margaret assured him.

"Ok," Neal relented. "Just promise….make sure Madam Mayor over there stays far away from him."

"I never told you that I was the mayor," Regina stepped forward.

"You have a way about you," Neal stared her down. "The superiority that makes you think that you can control everyone and what they do."

"And she said this was her town," Henry spoke up.

"Yes she did," Neal looked down at him.

"She won't get anywhere near him," David assured him. "We'll be in the waiting room just down the hall here."

"I'll be with your mom while they examine her and the baby," Neal got down to Henry's level. "Please just stay with the sheriff and his wife."

"I will," Henry promised. "Go be with mom."

"I'll come find you once I know-" Neal stood back up to look at the Nolan's.

"Just go," Mary Margaret told him. "We'll be fine out here."

The group watched as Neal rushed down the hall and towards the examining room as Henry just watched in silence. Nobody saw Regina slink off with Graham. David and Mary Margaret shared a secret look as Henry looked up at them.

"You remember me?" David smiled at him.

"You're David," Henry said softly. "You're the sheriff."

"Are you hungry?" Mary Margaret asked him. "They should be serving breakfast by now. Would you like a little something?"

"Sure," he shrugged.

"Let's head to radiology to get your wrist looked at," David placed his hand on Henry's shoulder.

"I'll be back with breakfast," Mary Margaret smiled at them as she started to walk away and David led Henry down the hall.

* * *

David led Henry into a private room after his examination was over to wait for any word on his parents. Henry now had a splint on his wrist that he would need to keep on for a couple weeks. David brought some snacks from the vending machine as Henry sat down in one of the chairs and he took his backpack off and started pulling things out of it. David sat down in the chair next to him as he saw him take a thick storybook out of his bag. It looked very familiar to him.

"Do you always carry a fairytale book around with you?" David asked Henry.

"I just got this," Henry opened it up. "I found it actually-at the bed n' breakfast we just left. It just appeared. Mom and dad said I could keep it."

"It just appeared?" David looked at him.

"Yep," Henry turned the page. "And it's not just a fairytale book. It's about what happens after the fairytales are over."

"Oh really?"

"There's an Emma in this book, just like my mom." Henry turned to the back of the book. "Her parents are Prince Charming and Snow White. They put her through a magical wardrobe to this land so that she could save everyone from the Evil Queen's curse when she was twenty eight."

"That sounds like an interesting story," David said as he saw Mary Margaret coming back to them with a handful of food items.

"What's an interesting story?" she asked them.

"Henry was telling me about his story book." David told her.

"That kind of looks like the one I found while I was cleaning one day," Mary recognized the familiar cover. "It just appeared."

"That's how I found this," Henry stated. "Mom and dad told me that things don't just appear."

"Well this did apparently," Mary told him. "But mine disappeared again a couple days ago."

"Anyway," David started again. "Henry's book has a story about Snow White and Prince Charming,"

"Really," Mary gave her husband a look.

"And to save their daughter, they sent her through a magical wardrobe to save her from a curse that she would have to break when she's twenty-eight." David finished explaining.

"That's an interesting spin on Snow White and Prince Charming," Mary Margaret shared a look with David.

"Their daughter's name is Emma," Henry flipped through the pages. "Just like my mom's. Weird coincidence right?"

"I've seen weirder coincidences," David told him.

"So they just opened the cafeteria for breakfast," Mary Margaret opened the small bag she had with her. "So I have some bagels, granola bars, a few donuts-"

"Any powdered sugar?" Henry asked.

"I had a feeling you had a sweet tooth," Mary Margaret handed him the donut wrapped in a napkin.

"Dad says that I get it from my mom," he smiled. "She does like her sweets. Dad tries so hard to get her to eat healthy for the pregnancy, but she always has a stash of sweets hidden away."

"So your parents seem so good together," Charming saw an opening to start asking questions about his potential daughter. "Have they always been like that?"

"No," Henry shook his head. "It's taken them a long time to sort through their problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"They just have a complicated past," Henry mumbled, not really wanting to divulge too much to these strangers.

"Sorry if we seem like we're being nosy," Mary Margaret looked at him. "We're just trying to take your mind off things."

"It's ok," Henry shrugged. "Truth is, I didn't even know dad until I was two. Mom tracked him down in Canada."

"Canada? Where were you guys living at that time?"

"Phoenix," Henry shrugged. "Getting ready to move and start our lives in someplace new. Mom decided then that it was time to find him. So we tracked him down."

"I can imagine there was a lot of emotions going on,"

"There was a lot of yelling for sure. But they had a very long conversation behind closed doors. When they came out, dad came with us to start his new life with us."

"I imagine it was hard for you all to adjust," David stated.

"They had their problems, but dad always said that he was there to protect us now. He always says that no one will be able to tear us apart. I think it's a statement for mom. She's afraid of any kind of commitment. That's why she hasn't answered dad's proposal yet."

"Proposal? As in marriage proposal?"

"Dad says she's just scared. She didn't have any permanent family growing up so she's scared that this won't last. Just like when she was younger. But she hasn't said no either. So that's a good sign, I think."

"I believe it is too," Mary smiled at him.

Mary looked over at David, each of them with identical looks on their faces. It was clear that they both were thinking the same thing: they had already missed so much with their daughter. They didn't want to miss anymore.

* * *

Emma lay back on the bed clutching Neal's hand tightly as she tried to decipher what the print-out from the fetal monitor was saying. Neal placed his hand on her stomach and kissed her cheek.

"It's going to be ok," he assured her.

"I haven't felt them move," she said softly. "No kicking, nothing."

"That doesn't mean anything. We just need to wait for the doctor."

"Sorry about the wait," the door opened and a doctor came into them pushing an ultrasound machine. "I am Dr. Whale."

"Please," Emma started to tremble. "Tell us, is our baby ok?"

"I just need to ask you a few questions," Dr. Whale set up the machine. "You haven't felt any movement since you regained consciousness at the accident site?"

"No," Emma's grip tightened on Neal's hand.

"Did the airbag deploy?"

"I-I don't know. I can't remember."

"Please," Neal looked at the doctor. "Tell us if our baby's ok."

"Let's take a look," he powered on the ultrasound and took the probe and started to run it across her belly.

Emma held Neal's hand even tighter as she willed the baby to be all right. Neal kissed her forehead as she clung to him. Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a loud heartbeat.

"That means that they're ok right?" Emma whispered.

"There are no problems," Whale smiled at both of them. "A very strong and healthy heartbeat."

"Thank you," Emma gasped as the tears spilled down her cheeks.

"So that's it?" Neal asked. "Can we go then?"

"I would like you to stay here overnight just as a precaution," Dr. Whale told them.

"So when can we get back on the road?" Neal asked. "We're from New York and we need to get back to work. And our son can't miss anymore school."

"You're going to have to be on strict bedrest," the doctor told them. "And that includes no traveling right now."

"But that's not possible," Emma said

"You're going to have to figure something out." Dr. Whale told them as Emma and Neal exchanged worried looks.

* * *

Snow covered Henry as his eyes drifted closed and she smiled at Charming as he watched her. She sat back down next to him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I think you're right," he told her softly.

"About what?" she looked up at him.

"I think he's our grandson," he smiled at her. "It's just-"

"Too good to be true?"

"After all these years, we might be getting answers."

"We have to be cautious," she warned him. "Regina is watching and Emma has no idea about our world."

Just then, a nurse pushed a metal cart down the hall disrupting the stillness of the night. Henry startled awake and sat up abruptly, taking in his surroundings.

"I'm awake," he stated groggily.

"It's ok to sleep," Charming smiled at him.

"I need to know if my mom is ok," Henry rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I'm sure she's fine,"

"Henry," they all looked up to see Neal coming into them.

They looked out in the hall and saw Emma on a stretcher as some nurses pushed her down the hallway.

"Mom, Dad," Henry ran to them. "What's going on?"

"First thing," Neal looked at the splint on Henry's wrist. "How bad is it?"

"They said it was just a sprain," David came out to them. "He'll need to keep that splint on for the next couple of weeks at least."

"I'm glad you're ok kid," Emma smiled as he hugged her tightly.

"What about you?" Henry pulled back to look at her.

"Everything is fine, kid." Emma smiled at her son.

"So the baby?"

"Is perfectly healthy. And has a strong heartbeat."

"So can we leave?"

"They want to keep them overnight just in case," Neal told his son. "But if all goes well, we can get out of here by the morning."

"Can I stay with you?" Henry pleaded.

"We already got the ok from the doctor," Neal smiled. "Actually your mom threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't agree."

"Mom," Henry smiled at her.

"What? It's the hormones." Emma defended herself.

"You can only use that excuse for so long, you know." Neal looked at her.

"Which is why she's milking it for all its worth." Henry added.

"We're glad you're ok," Mary and David went up to the family.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on our boy," Neal told them.

"It was no problem," David smiled at them. "He was showing us his new storybook that he got."

"Interesting stories in there," Mary added.

"Thank you again," Emma told them as the nurses started pushing her down the hall again. "Maybe we'll see each other again soon."

"Yeah, maybe." Mary said softly as they watched the family head down the hallway together.

"She's a strong woman," Charming commented. "Exactly how we would've raised her back home."

"I want to tell her," Snow sighed. "But how do you just tell someone something out of the blue like that? She'll think that we're crazy."

"We'll find a way," Charming held her tightly. "Our family will be together soon."

* * *

 **AN:** So what did you think? I hope you liked it. PLZ R&R!


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:** Here's the next installment. Hope you like this. Reviews make me happy. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Neal slowly awoke and rubbed the back of his neck; it was sore after sleeping in an awkward position in a very uncomfortable chair all night. He looked next to him at the hospital bed as he grasped Emma's hand in his and spotted Henry sleeping in his mom's arms. He smiled as he saw Emma's eyes start to open. She turned over and smiled at him.

"Hey," she said softly.

"How'd you sleep?" he brushed his hands through her hair.

"Good," she smiled. "Ask me again."

"What?"

"Ask me again," Emma repeated.

"Ask you what?" Neal smirked at her playfully.

"You know what I'm talking about," she stated. "So ask me."

"Hold on," Neal smiled as he got up from the chair.

He went to their bags of belongings and rooted around until he found what he was searching for. He came back over to the bed and knelt before Emma.

"Emma Swan, would you make me the luckiest man in the world and marry me?"

"Yes," she smiled at him.

"It's about time," Henry slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes as his dad slid the ring on his mom's finger. "I've been waiting forever already."

"I'm sorry," Emma kissed Henry on his forehead before turning to kiss Neal. "I just-"

"It's ok," Neal assured her. "We both have our issues to overcome. I would've waited forever for us to become an official family."

"So when will you get married then?" Henry asked.

"Slow down," Neal smiled at his son. "It just became official. It takes a lot of planning."

"But you can help us with the planning if you want," Emma smiled at him.

"I'll think about it," Henry told them as there was a light knock on the door.

"Sorry," Mary Nolan came in. "I didn't think you would be awake yet. I was just going to leave this for you."

"Thank you," Neal spotted the gift basket. "That was very generous of you."

"I was making my rounds so it was no problem,"

"You work here?" Emma asked.

"I volunteer here, but I teach fourth grade."

"That's what grade I'm in," Henry said.

"Anyway," Mary placed the basket down on the nearby table. "It's just a few comforts. Snacks and things like that."

"Thank you," Emma said softly. "Have you been here all night? Your husband must be missing you. Your kids as well."

"David had an early shift at the station," Mary told them. "And we don't have any kids. Well, we had a daughter but…"

"Did something happen to her?" Henry asked.

"Kid," Neal tried to stop him as he glanced at Mary. "Sorry, he has no filter."

"It's ok," Mary smiled. "The truth is, we thought we were protecting her by sending her away. Turns out that the trouble we thought she would be in was a lie. A very mean and powerful person wanted to take away our happiness."

"That's awful," Emma said softly.

"If we had it to do over again, we would make sure that we would all be together."

"Do you know where she is?" Henry asked.

"We thought we were close to finding her a few times, but she was always just out of our reach."

"I'm sorry you went through that," Neal said.

"It's ok," Mary gave them a small smile. "I better get back to my rounds. If you guys need anything, just let me know."

"Actually," Neal spoke up. "She's been put on bedrest, and that includes no traveling. Which means that we can't drive back to New York for the time being."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Internally, Mary was jumping for joy.

"So we need a place to stay. Do you know of any place?"

"Granny's," Mary smiled at them. "She has an inn and she also runs the diner in town. I can leave your names with her."

"Thank you," Emma smiled at her.

"It's no problem at all. This is a town where we help each other out." Mary told them. "I'll leave you now, but I hope to see you around."

"Me too," Emma watched her leave as Henry went to the gift basket to try to find some sweets.

"What are you thinking?" Neal looked at Emma.

"She misses her daughter," she told him. "And she's not like what we were told."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know,"

* * *

After his early shift at the station, David went to the hospital to meet Mary in the ICU where she was usually found on the days that she volunteered. He met up with her as she was walking out of the room.

"There you are," he smiled at her.

"Hey," she kissed him deeply on the lips.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what did I do to deserve that?"

"I stopped to see Emma this morning,"

"You know we can't be too pushy with them. We'll scare them away."

"I know. I just-dropped off a gift basket for all of them. And I found out something interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"Emma's been put on restrictions,"

"Well I would assume that she's on bedrest."

"And there's a ban on traveling. She can't leave town."

"Really?" David started to smile.

"They asked where they could stay. I told them about Granny's."

"Don't get your hopes up. We can't be pushy."

"I know. I just-"

"We have to do this the right way or people will start asking questions. Like Regina and Gold."

"I know. You're right."

"Come on," he took her hand as they started to walk towards the exit. "We'll have lunch at the diner."

"Sounds good," she smiled at him.

They reached the lobby and saw a familiar family of three coming out of one of the rooms. Henry was carrying the gift basket that Mary had dropped off as Emma was grumbling and Neal was talking softly to her as he pushed her in the wheelchair.

"I can walk, you know." Emma stated.

"It's hospital policy," Neal argued back with her. "You need to stay in it until we get out the front doors."

"It's a stupid policy. If you're able to walk, they should let you."

"It's a liability thing," Neal told her.

"Sheriff," Henry spotted them walking towards them. "Mrs. Nolan."

"You can just call us Mary and David if you would like," David smiled at him.

"Are they releasing you?" Mary looked at Emma.

"Peanut is still doing well," Neal told them.

"Peanut?"

"Henry's nickname for the baby," Emma smiled. "He said that they looked like a peanut on the ultrasound picture."

"We needed to call them something other than 'IT' and you guys said you don't want to know if it's a boy or a girl." Henry spoke up.

"We want to be surprised," Neal told his son as they walked outside. "Oh, I forgot to call for the cab."

"We can give you a ride if you would like," David told them. "I know it's a small town, but it's still going to take the cab some time to get here."

"Great," Emma grumbled.

"We don't want to put you out," Neal said.

"It wouldn't be putting us out," David assured them. "We were on our way to the diner for lunch anyway. You're more than welcome to join us."

"She makes the best grilled cheese." Mary added.

"Did you say grilled cheese?" Emma asked.

"That's mom's favorite," Henry said. "Mine too. We would live off it if it wasn't for dad."

"Excuse me for trying to get you to eat healthy," Neal defended.

"Lunch sounds good right now," Emma looked at Neal. "Especially after what this place tried to pass off as breakfast."

"All right," Neal relented.

"I'll go pull the car around," David started across the parking lot.

"You guys can talk to Granny about a couple rooms while we're there," Mary told them as David pulled up to the curb in front of them.

"Emma, you should take the front seat," David came to help them. "More room for you to stretch your legs."

"Thank you," she slowly got up out of the wheelchair with Neal's help as David held the door open for her.

Henry climbed into the back seat followed by his dad and Mary. David went back around to the driver's side and pulled away from the hospital.

The diner wasn't that far from the hospital, but it still seemed to last forever for Neal. Henry was content to watch out the window as they passed all the local businesses in the small town. They finally pulled up in front of the small eatery and Emma opened her door as Neal scrambled to get to her side.

"I can walk," she slapped his hand away. "I know that I'm sentenced to bedrest, but I'm not an invalid."

"Hormones?" David chuckled as Mary and Henry rushed ahead to walk with Emma into the diner.

"How I wish that's all it was," Neal mumbled. "She is very independent. She hates to have anyone help her if she thinks she can do it herself. Plus she is not a good patient. She hates just sitting still."

"I'm the same way," David told him. "I've been hurt on the job a few times. Was put on bedrest. I thought Mary would end up killing me by the end of it."

"I'm the same way when I get sick." Neal admitted. "I'm pretty sure that Emma came close to smothering me with a pillow."

"I know that I have absolutely no room to give you any kind of advice-"

"I will take whatever advice that you have to offer,"

"Just remember this the next time you want to get on her about something: She is carrying your child and will be delivering it soon. She's almost to the end of the pregnancy which means that she's starting to get very uncomfortable. She's going through all that to ensure that your child comes out healthy."

"I know that already,"

"Then let me give you some advice; whatever she requests of you, be it some kind of craving or something else, just try your very best to carry out her instructions to the T. It's the best for your overall health and safety."

"Got it," Neal nodded as they walked into the diner and saw Mary helping Emma into a booth towards the back and they walked towards them.

"You just want your normal?" David asked his wife.

"Yep," she smiled at him.

"We can order at the counter," David looked at Neal. "And you can talk to Granny about renting a room."

"You two still want grilled cheese then?" Neal looked at his family.

"What kind of question is that?" Henry looked at his dad.

"Of course we do," Emma smiled at her son's response. "With onion rings. Before you protest, onions are a vegetable."

"I'm too tired to argue with you," Neal started to walk with David up to the counter.

"I'm coming!" Henry started out of the booth. "I'll pick a good dessert for you mom."

"That's my boy," she smiled as he went to his dad.

"So...want to talk?" Mary started.

"About what?" Emma looked at her.

"I don't know," Mary smiled. "I guess this is awkward for us both huh?"

"Just a little," Emma smiled back. "But at least I have someone to talk to."

"So how did you and Neal meet?"

"I grew up in foster care," Emma started. "When I was seventeen, I was sick of it so I ran away from the system. I ended up in Portland with no place to stay and no way to support myself. I'm not proud of some of the stuff I did."

"What do you mean?"

"My first day, I tried to steal a car. Turns out that Neal had already stolen it."

"So you stole a stolen car?" Mary smiled and Emma nodded. "So how'd you support yourselves?"

"Petty theft and when it got cold we snuck into hotel rooms for a few hours. Like I said, I'm not proud of some of the decisions I've made."

"Well you two seem really close,"

"It's taken a lot of work," Emma stated. "And the fact that we both have trust issues and emotional baggage miles long. But we want this to work. We want our kids to have a family that we never had growing up."

"So Neal grew up in the system too?"

"He ran away from a messed up family life when he was young and he got lucky when a few families took him in right off the street."

"He was lucky," Mary agreed.

"We've both been through our fair share of stuff. We just don't want our kids to suffer like we did."

"It doesn't look like Henry is suffering one bit," Mary watched him at the counter with Neal and David.

* * *

Neal smiled as Henry scanned the list of desserts offered as David talked to Granny. He turned back to them as David mentioned that Neal was looking for a room.

"Just one?" Granny looked at Neal.

"It needs to be big enough," Neal told her. "It's for me, my fiancee, and our boy. Henry here will need his own bed. And my girl is far along in her pregnancy."

"I have the perfect room available," Granny told him. "Just stop and get the key before you leave."

"Will do," Neal smiled as she walked away.

"So….fiancee?" David looked at him. "So she answered you?"

"She told me to ask her again this morning after she woke up. I think the accident made her think of what could've happened."

"Well congratulations,"

"Thank you," Neal smiled as Granny came out again to tell them that their food was ready.

The three of them walked back to the table where Mary and Emma were talking. Henry slid in next to his mom and she smiled at him.

"So?" she looked at him.

"I ordered you a double chocolate fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream for dessert," he smiled back at her.

"What?" Neal looked at his son. "When did you order that?"

"When you were busy talking to Granny," Henry told him. "I gave the order to the waitress Ruby."

"That's my boy," Emma smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll share it with you. But not your dad."

"Here we go," Ruby came up to them with their lunch. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Emma smiled at her.

The group shared idle chit chat until Neal noticed that both Emma and Henry were starting to droop.

"I think maybe we should go find our room," Neal suggested. "None of us got the best sleep last night."

"I can imagine," David stated. "Those beds are most uncomfortable."

"Come on," Neal lifted Henry up into his arms as Emma slowly stood up from the booth. "We need some sleep."

"We hope we can hang out with you again," Mary told them.

"Well you are the only people in town that we know," Emma mumbled. "So it's a definite possibility."

"Get some rest," David smiled at them.

The couple watched as the family of three stopped at the counter to pay for their meal and to get the key to their room. They exited the diner and David and Mary looked at each other.

"Well at least we're getting to know them," David told his wife.

"And I found out some interesting things about her," she told him.

"What kind of things?"

"Well…." Mary started to tell him what all Emma had shared with her.

"What?" David sat in shock as Mary finished her story. "They met because they were both thieves?"

"I'd like to think she was more of a bandit," Mary smiled. "She did what she felt she had to so that she could survive."

"Sounds like someone else I know," he smiled at her. "He told me something interesting when we were up talking to Granny."

"How interesting?"

"She answered his marriage proposal."

"And?"

"She said yes." he told her. "He thinks the accident really scared her and made her think about what could have happened."

"So we have a future son-in-law," Mary whispered. "And a wedding that we might never get to attend."

* * *

Neal unlocked the door to their room and gently lay Henry down on the smaller bed. Emma slowly got herself situated on the bigger bed and lay back.

"You still ok?" Neal looked at her.

"I'm good," she smiled at him.

"I am going to go get our things then," he told her. "David said that he had gone to the garage where the car was towed to. He got all our things for us and dropped them off in the lobby downstairs."

"Don't be too long," she told him.

"I'll be back before you know it," he smiled at her before walking out of the room.

"What's going on?" Emma looked over at the other bed and saw Henry sitting up.

"Hey buddy," she smiled at him as he got off his bed and climbed up beside her.

"Where's David and Mary?"

"You were falling asleep in the booth at the diner," she told him. "So we decided to come and get settled in here."

"Can we see them again?"

"They are the only ones in town that we know," Emma smiled. "I know that I'd like to spend more time with them."

"It's weird," Henry mumbled as he lay down beside his mom. "It's like I know them. Like we were separated and are being reunited."

"I get that feeling too," she smiled at him.

"Well that didn't last long," Neal came back in with their things. "Don't want to sleep yet, kid?"

"Can we read this?" Henry held the storybook.

"You want us to read to you?" Emma looked at him. "You haven't wanted us to read to you in a long time."

"But these stories are cool. I think we all need to hear them."

"All right," Neal got onto the other side of the bed so that Henry was in the middle of his parents. "If nothing else, maybe it will tire us all out."

"Which one should we start with?" Emma opened the book.

"Start at the beginning," Henry told her. "With Prince Charming and Snow White."

"You got it," Emma glanced over at Neal before starting to read the story.

Emma barely got through Snow White and Prince Charming's first meeting before she and Neal drifted off. Henry took the book from his mom and started skimming through the pages. He stopped on the picture of the Evil Queen interrupting Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding.

"Whoa," Henry stared at the image. "It can't be...Mary? David?"

Henry quickly flipped to the back of the book where the picture showed Prince Charming putting his daughter into the wardrobe. He saw the name 'Emma' stitched onto the blanket he wrapped the baby in and gasped.

"Mom?" Henry glanced at his mom fast asleep beside him.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you think? I hope you liked this. Reviews make me happy. PLZ R&R!


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